Volkswagen selects Ageas as its motor insurance partner

Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) has announced the selection of Ageas UK as its motor insurance partner to cover the Volkswagen, Audi, SKODA, SEAT and Volkswagen Commercial brands. 

The new partnership commenced in April 2015. The product is underwritten by Ageas and a panel of insurers and will be managed and administered by Ageas Retail. The insurance partnership also complements Volkswagen "Ensurance"; the accident and repair cover provided by UK General (and also underwritten by Ageas). Volkswagen FS also partners with the AA for motor breakdown and MAPFRE for its Gap Insurance cover. 

Ageas has had considerable success in recent years with motor manufacturers and continues to work with Vauxhall and Toyota. The loss of the Volkswagen partnership is a significant one for Allianz, although it continues to work with Ford and BMW in this market sector. 

St James's Place partners with Metro Bank

An interesting but slightly unexpected partnership has been announced between wealth manager St James's Place and "challenger bank" Metro Bank. 

Launching in April 2015, the service will be branded as "St James's Place Money Management Account", and  "powered by Metro Bank. It will be made available to customers with more than £500,000 invested with St James's Place and will provide a range of services, including an overdraft facility worth up to 40% of a client's investments with the group. 

A separate but still operational "St James's Place Bank" remains as a division of the Bank of Scotland, dating back to the period when HBoS plc (subsequently Lloyds Banking Group) held a majority stake in St James's Place. Lloyds sold its remaining stake in the wealth manager in December 2013. 

uSwitch partners with ActiveQuote for life covers

uSwitch, the online comparison and switching website has partnered with ActiveQuote for its life insurance comparison service; covering income protection, critical illness and protection. ActiveQuote already provides the health insurance service for uSwitch. 

Direct Life and Pensions had previously provided a life insurance service for uSwitch, but this is not considered to be one of the largest life insurance partnerships; at least not in comparison with other aggregators.  

ActiveQuote also provides a health insurance comparison service for GoCompare and Confused.com. 

first direct ends new business partnership with iGO4

With only limited publicity at the start of the year, first direct bank has effectively ended its car insurance partnership with iGO4 Partners, and has stopped offering the product to its customers. It is understood however, that iGO4 Partners, previously known as "Equity Insurance Partnerships", will continue to handle motor insurance renewals for first direct. 

first direct's motor insurance has been underwritten by Ageas since June 2013 and the bank continues to partner with Aviva for its home and travel insurance, and with HSBC Life (UK) for protection. 

iGO4 Partners continues to partner with Santander for car insurance as well as a range of motor manufacturers, including Honda, Renault, Kia, Nissan and Dacia.   

Howden secures partnership with de Vere Group

Howden Insurance Brokers has secured a new partnership with de Vere Group, the international financial advisory firm. 

The partnership will be targeted towards the high net worth insurance needs of de Vere's 80,000 customers in over 100 countries worldwide. 

The partnership also marks an early foray into affinity partnerships by Howden. In partnership terms, the number of de Vere customers is relatively small, but the attraction must be the focus on targeted and specialist covers - for example, fine art, jewellery, yacht, private aircraft and overseas property. 

Saga announces major partnership with Tilney Bestinvest

Saga and Tilney Bestinvest have announced a new joint venture partnership to provide investment and financial planning services to Saga's over 50s base. The new business, branded "Saga Investment Services powered by Bestinvest" is due to commence operations in Autumn 2015. Each partner will own 50% of the new business. 

The joint venture followed a detailed strategic review of potential operating models and partners. It plans to offer  execution-only, investment advisory, investment management and financial planning services through a range of distribution channels, including face-to-face advice on a national basis. 

Today's announcement suggested that Saga's existing personal finance business will operate separately from the new venture. This raises some interesting challenges given that the existing operation already includes, among others, a financial planning service from "my wealth" (Wealth at Work), life and annuity services from Legal & General and equity release and care funding from Just Retirement. 

In a separate announcement, Saga has also announced a partnership with Spire Healthcare to pilot a "home from hospital service", which is intended to help the resettlement of customers discharged from hospital.